By Parker Leavitt | The Republic | azcentral.com
Gilbert officials drew upon more than $600,000 in contingency funding in fiscal 2013 to pay for dozens of unplanned expenses, and some Town Council members would like to see that trimmed this year.
Projects funded by contingency money included job recruitment, security improvements at the downtown Water Tower Plaza and an employee picnic for about 200 people at Big League Dreams, according to town report.
Before the hire of Town Manager Patrick Banger in 2011, officials in each department budgeted for a “worst-case scenario,” making sure there were contingency funds that gave them flexibility to address unforeseen needs.
The town also had an additional contingency account, typically between $2 million and $3 million, and those funds were often used for non-emergency projects like land purchases, transit services and marketing. In fiscal 2008, contingency spending totaled $2.4 million.
